I grew up with parents who instilled the importance of reading and writing from the moment I was born. My dad was a carpenter for most of my childhood and my mom was a first grade teacher and reading specialist. It was common in my house to see books from the library next to my parents’ bed, at the kitchen table and even outside. One of my favorite photographs of my childhood is of my father and I sitting at a picnic table. He has the newspaper in front of him, clearly on a break from construction, and I am next to him mimicking his behavior at age three with the writing upside down. My parents used the written word often to send letters to family and friends and by the age of 7 my mom had arranged for a pen-pall for me. I would write to her every other week and learned about her life in a land that seemed so foreign. As a child literacy was all around me. The primary uses of text in my childhood was to learn new information and for pleasure. My grandfather’s house had shelves full of Encyclopedias that I would use for homework assignments and to learn about any number of topics. My parents read the newspaper to learn about current events in the world. They also instilled in me a love for fictional text. Still to this day when I visit them it is common for the three of us to sit in the living room reading our books by the fire. The Redwall series was my first chapter book series that I recall and I remember spending hours at a time turning the pages, anxious to discover what would happen next. In my household it was more common for my parents to say “only a half hour of reading before bed” rather than any mandating of reading. My family encouraged true learning throughout my life. They actively sought opportunities for me to be challenged in my education and made many sacrifices for me. My parents held high expectations for me academically, but also demonstrated an understanding that learning does not only happen within classroom walls. I think that seeing my dad return to school as an adult and change careers completely was inspiring and led me to be an even more dedicated student.
The primary uses of text in my childhood was to learn new information and for pleasure. My grandfather’s house had shelves full of Encyclopedias that I would use for homework assignments and to learn about any number of topics. My parents read the newspaper to learn about current events in the world. They also instilled in me a love for fictional text. Still to this day when I visit them it is common for the three of us to sit in the living room reading our books by the fire. The Redwall series was my first chapter book series that I recall and I remember spending hours at a time turning the pages, anxious to discover what would happen next. In my household it was more common for my parents to say “only a half hour of reading before bed” rather than any mandating of reading. My family encouraged true learning throughout my life. They actively sought opportunities for me to be challenged in my education and made many sacrifices for me. My parents held high expectations for me academically, but also demonstrated an understanding that learning does not only happen within classroom walls. I think that seeing my dad return to school as an adult and change careers completely was inspiring and led me to be an even more dedicated student.